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U.S. Funding Boost Is Sought for Yemen Forces

By

Adam Entous,

Siobhan Gorman and

Julian E. Barnes

Updated Sept. 2, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The U.S. military's Central Command has proposed pumping as much as $1.2 billion over five years into building up Yemen's security forces, a major investment in a shaky government, in a sign of Washington's fears of al Qaeda's growing foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.

The timing and the final funding amount will depend on how supporters of the effort overcome resistance from some officials at the State Department and the Pentagon, who have doubts about Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the ability of his...